Authorities: Chimney Inspector Impostors Stole from Elderly Women

Suffolk County authorities said Wednesday that two men posing as chimney inspectors have been indicted for bias crime charges after they allegedly stole jewelry and cash from two elderly women last month.

The District Attorney’s office accused 32-year-old Bruce Wimmer of Bohemia and 28-year-old Michael Windland of Lake Ronkonkoma of allegedly scamming a 77-year-old Huntington woman two weeks ago by telling her that they were chimney repairmen and needed to get into the house for an inspection.

Once inside, the pair allegedly stole jewelry from the woman’s bedroom, the DA’s office said.

Several days later, Windland and Wimmer entered a 92-year-old Bellport woman’s home under the guise of inspecting her chimney and allegedly stole $160 cash, a portion of which came from church envelopes, and the victim’s prescription medication, authorities said.

The alleged burglars also quoted the woman $3,000 for chimney work and said they’d drive her to the bank to withdraw money. The DA’s office didn’t immediately say if they followed through with that plan.

Both men were scheduled to be arraigned on the grand jury indictment Wednesday morning in Riverhead.

Rashed Mian has been covering local news for the Long Island Press since 2011. He graduated from Hofstra University in 2010 where he studied print journalism. Rashed, the staff's multimedia reporter, covers daily news for the web, shoots/edits feature videos and writes about civil liberties. He loves Afghan food and sports. Rashed is also a caffeine freak. Email: rmian@longislandpress.com. Twitter: rashedmian